This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.

It was the end of an era in Coronation Street today as Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) waved goodbye to the cobbles after 25 years.

After the death of sister Julie Carp, Eileen was left questioning the direction of her life and whether she was happy in her relationship with George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley).

When son Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) asked her to move to Thailand and invest in his bar, she was hesitant, but George was keen to encourage her.

Determined to make her happy, George booked them a trip to Thailand so they could have a trial run at living out there – but in tonight’s episode their plans changed drastically.

The reality of the situation finally hit George after a conversation with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), and he decided to sit down with Eileen for a serious discussion.

He revealed that he could sense that the love in their relationship was rather one-sided, and eventually got Eileen to admit that she didn’t love him more than a dear friend.

That was all George needed to know, and he made the decision not to continue their relationship or accompany her on holiday.

However, with her relationship with George over, Eileen realised that there was no reason she couldn’t make her trip to Thailand a permanent one.

After some thinking, she told colleagues Steve and Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) that she was going to invest in Jason’s bar after all.

Of course, before heading to the airport, Eileen had to take a trip to the Rovers for a farewell drink with her neighbours, and it was there that Steve and Tim surprised her with a special send off from the Streetcars drivers.